Gloucestershire Archives

Pub History!

Pubs lie at the heart of the community in villages, towns and cities all over the British Isles. But how did this come about? Here's the story of the great British 'local'......


Tabernae
The Romans introduced the concept of the 'pub' to Britain for all Roman towns and cities had 'Tabernae', places that served food, wine and probably the local ale too.

Pub fact: Tabernae advertised their role by displaying vine leaves outside their doors.. the first pub-signs.


The Alehouse
People have always made home brew. Some were better at brewing than others and these tended to make more than they needed and sell the excess to others in their village. This ale was sometimes consumed at the brewer's home and so the first alehouses were born. As the population of Britain grew, water sources in villages and towns began to become contaminated and as a result, ale became the only safe, sterile drink, causing the number of permanent alehouses to increase.

Pub fact: Ethelbert, who was King of Kent in 560, was the first British ruler to regulate the numbers of brewers in his domain.


The Inn
During the medieval period, traffic on Britain's roads increased hugely due to big increases in trade and the number of religious pilgrims travelling round the country. As a result, the Inn was created, offering travellers food, drink and shelter for the night. The first inns were built and run by monks but it was not long before others started copying the idea and the number of inns began to increase. Over time, inns came to act as social, commercial and even intellectual centres, especially for the gentry.

Pub fact: Gloucester's New Inn was built in 1455 by monks of St Peter's Abbey (now Gloucester Cathedral) to offer hospitality to pilgrims visiting the tomb of Edward II.


The Tavern
The Tudor period saw the creation of a new type of drinking establishment; the Tavern. These were a cross between the alehouse and inn and were places for leisure and pleasure, offering superior food, drink and comfort than alehouses together with accommodation like inns. In some ways they were like the winebars of the 1990s as they had a monopoly on selling wine!

Pub fact: The first licensing system was introduced in England in 1495 and by the 16th century there was roughly 1 alehouse to every 6 houses.


The Pub
Over time the common alehouse began to improve its reputation, primarily though legislation imposed via local licensing. Gradually the difference between alehouses and inns decreased, as alehouses also began to offer food and accommodation. By the 18th century the 'alehouse' started to become known as a 'public house' and before long, this had been shortened to 'pub'. Time for a beer!!

Fascinating Gloucestershire Pub Facts!

The Oldest Pub in Gloucestershire?
The Black Bear, Tewkesbury - first mentioned in 1308! Gloucester's oldest pub is The New Inn, which was built in 1455 as a pilgrim's hostel by monks of St Peter's Abbey (now Gloucester Cathedral).


Popular Pub Names Hit Parade!
The UK's 'Top 5' popular pub names are: The Crown, Red Lion, Royal Oak, Swan and White Hart. In Gloucestershire, the No.1 is the King's Head.


Gloucestershire's Unique Pub Name!
The Village Pub at Barnsley is a pub name that is found nowhere else in the UK!

A-Z of unusual Gloucestershire pub names (then and now)!

• The Bishop Blaize (Cirencester),
• The Boot (Dursley),
• The Bugatti (Gretton),
• Cold Comfort (Dowdeswell),
• The Cat & Custard Pot (Shipton Moyne),
• The Cottage of Content (Frampton Cotterell),
• Crown of Crucis (Ampney Crucis),
• The Daneway (Sapperton),
• The Dew Drop Inn (Cheltenham),
• Dinneywicks Inn (Kingswood),
• The Dog & Badger (Kingswood),
• Foston's Ash (Cranham),
• Glass House (Taynton),
• Gumstool Inn (Tetbury),
• The Hollow Bottom (Guiting Power),
• The Kilkenny (Andoversford),
• Live and Let Live (Chipping Campden),
• The Mouse Trap (Bourton-on-the-Water),
• The Odessa (Tredington),
• The Old Corner Cupboard Inn (Winchcombe),
• Orepool Inn (Coleford),
• The Pig & Whistle (Quenington),
• The Recruiting Sergeant (Littledean),
• The Salutation (Minchinhampton),
• The Shoulder of Mutton (Pebworth) and
• Smugg's Barn (Chedworth)...... to name a few!

Literary Pubs!
The Woolpack, Slad - associated with Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee. The Bell Inn, Gloucester. features in the rollicking novel Tom Tones by Henry Fielding.


A Warm Welcome!
This is a sign that welcomes you as you go into the Plough Inn at Ford;

Gloucestershire's most haunted pub?
Thought to be The Ram, Wotton-Under-Edge.


Pubs & Singing:
... go hand in hand with each other and Gloucestershire has two famous drinking songs:

George Riddler's Oven: the Gloucestershire Society adopted this in 1567 as their official anthem. Like many rural ballads it celebrates drinking and the pursuit of women!

The Gloucestershire Wassail: a festive offering now famous the world over!

A Tipple from the Archives!

This is a selection of pub-related misdemeanours taken from the Court of Summary Jurisdiction (Justice of the Peace) records held at Gloucestershire Archives (reference Q/PC series).

First Offence: The earliest surviving alcohol related record occurs on 18 Feb 1782, when Alice Greenwood, widow, was charged with selling ale without a licence in St James', Bristol. For this first offence she received the standard fine of 40s (equivalent to £132 today) plus 5s (£15.71) costs. Just 5 months later she was in court again for the same offence and was fined £4 (£251.40 today).

Repeat Offender: On 23 Nov 1783 William Rolph was brought up on 7 charges of selling beer without a licence. He had 3 previous convictions for the same offence and was fined £6 for each offence - a total fine of £42 (£2,639.70 today!)

Occupations: Among those convicted of selling ale without a licence included bakers, labourers, coalminers, thatchers, clothiers, basket-weavers, yeoman, weavers, shopkeepers, waggoners, feltmakers, maltsters, glaziers, cordwainers, scribblers and even alehouse keepers!

Binge Drinking: On 22 September 1786 Thomas Fords, an alehouse keeper of Coaley faced a charge that he had 'allowed Simon savage, labourer, to continue tippling for more than 3 hours so that he was very intoxicated!'

Bad Company: Public drunkenness was not liked. On 15 February 1794, Joseph Rice of Stroud was charged with 'Being drunk and swearing and cursing'! Has the pub shut?

Sunday Munchies: In 1809, William Carpenter, a watchmaker of Cirencester was fined 5s for 'Being drunk on Sunday 17 September. The charge had been brought against Carpenter by Edward Orpin, a waiter, so presumably the incident had taken place in the equivalent of the local takeaway!

Bad Day to have a Pub Crawl: The 29 August 1789 was not a good day for drinkers in the parish of St Phillip & St Jacob in Bristol as no fewer than 13 alehouses were closed as their owners had no licences!

I am a Cider Drinker: It wasn't just ale that got people into trouble for on 17 October 1808 Richard Bailey, a wiredrawer from St Briavel's in the Forest of Dean, was brought before the judge for selling cider without a licence. Despite it being his first offence, he was seemingly treated quite harshly and fined £19 (£645 today) with £1 (£34) expenses!

Caught Short: In September 1793, 3 men from Cooley confessed to 'selling excisable liquor without a licence'. These men seem to have escaped without punishment.

Bang to Rights: On 24 July 1822, John Lane Cherry a shopkeeper in Kemerton had the misfortune to sell a quart of ale to the wrong man, for it transpired that the customer was one Thomas Griffiths, a customs officer. Griffiths subsequently had Cherry charged with selling ale without a licence and also charging 2d per quart instead of the regulation 1 1/2 d. The case was heard by J Timbrill DD, JP and Rev J Keysall JP at Tewkesbury on 7 August 1822. Griffiths had 2 witnesses, George Webb and John Franklin (labourers) and he also called Thomas Johns (brewer and supplier) and William Buckle (carrier). Cherry admitted the charge but was still fined a hefty £50 (£2,100 today)!

Late Night Lock-in: On 10 May 1826 Anne Parker, licensed victualler of Winchcombe was charged that on 18 April 1826 she was 'Keeping her alehouse open during late hours for purposes other than that reception of travellers. She admitted the charge and as it was her first offence she received a mitigated fine of 10s (£25). On 5 July, she was in court again for a repeat offence and this time she was fined £10 (£494) and her licence was revoked under 'The Act for regulating the manner of licensing alehouses' for which she forfeited her deposit of £5 (£247).

Reproduced with kind permission of Gloucestershire County Council

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